Home Energy Saver Launches Online Forum for Homeowners

Posted by Tom White on March 19, 2013

Berkeley Lab, in partnership with the staff of Home Energy magazine, have launched the Home Energy Saver Community, an online forum for homeowners and remodelers.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab – www.lbl.gov), in partnership with the staff of Home Energy magazine (www.HomeEnergy.org), have launched the Home Energy Saver Community, an online forum for homeowners and remodelers.

The new online forum is part of the Berkeley Lab's popular Home Energy Saver interactive home energy assessment tool (hes.lbl.gov). According to Berkeley Lab’s Evan Mills, “the Home Energy Saver Community harnesses the popularity of social media, both to motivate homeowners to engage more in the process of remodeling their homes, and to help them be more comfortable and energy efficient.”

The Home Energy Saver Community, which launched on March 19, 2013, features rich content from the forthcoming guidebook, No-Regrets Remodeling, 2nd Edition, as well as case studies, energy-expert blogs, videos, a Google calendar that provides energy-saving to-dos that users can even import into their own calendars, and more. Hard copy and electronic versions of the book will be published by Home Energy magazine later this spring. The book highlights steps where readers can use the do-it-yourself Home Energy Saver online energy assessment tool to obtain a list of energy-saving upgrades tailored to their home, climate, and local energy prices.

Consumers want to invest their time and money in upgrades or remodels that give them the most comfort and bang for their buck, while avoiding mistakes that cause regrets down the road. The Home Energy Saver Community provides No-Regrets Remodeling readers and Home Energy Saver users with practical information to support their decision-making during this potentially overwhelming process. Home Energy magazine’s Tom White notes that "no-regrets remodeling means ending up with an attractive home that meets your needs while being more energy efficient, comfortable, and durable; less costly to operate and maintain; and healthier for you and your family.” Now homeowners will be able to access expert content, a wealth of resources and share their own energy-saving ideas, all on one site.

Home Energy Saver is the first and most widely used online tool for calculating residential energy use—site traffic is around one million visits per year. The average homeowner can reduce their energy bills by 50% or more by adopting recommendations from the Home Energy Saver. Berkeley Lab researchers developed HES for the U.S. Department of Energy and other energy/environment agencies.

Home Energy is the magazine for professionals who improve residential energy-efficiency, indoor air quality, and comfort. Since 1984, Home Energy has published proven best practices and up-to-date information on what works in home performance and weatherization.

Tom White is the publisher at Home Energy and can be reached at (510) 524-5405 x 117 or twhite@homeenergy.org. Evan Mills, Ph.D is a staff scientist at Berkeley Lab. He can be reached at (510) 486-6784 or emills@lbl.gov.

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